From the Desk of Harold Poole

GOP congressman to taxpayers: “It is not your money”

A Republican congressman seeking a $25 billion bailout of the troubled U.S. auto industry made a stunning statement about taxpayer funds to benefit Detroit, claiming, “It is not your money.”

Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., made the remark during a discussion with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto yesterday as the pair debated sending billions of federal dollars to prop up the Big Three carmakers.

Cavuto asked Knollenberg: “When the housing industry CEOs come to you and say, ‘You know, [if] we go under and all the ancillary businesses – the dishwasher manufacturers, the washer-and-dryer manufacturers, the Lowe’s and the Home Depots that vastly depend on our being alive and vibrant – if we go under, there’s hell to pay. And then the textile manufacturer comes to you and says, ‘If we go down, there’s hell to pay.’ And on and on and on we go. Where do you draw the line with our money?”

“It is not your money,” said Knollenberg.

Cavuto screamed back, “It is! It is taxpayers money!”

Knollenberg claimed dealers are not selling cars right now because “there’s no credit to get.”

He explained, “If we could just remove that problem, and this is what we’re trying to do, then we’d be in the position to sell cars.”